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HE LEFT QUIETLY

Based on the life of Duma Kumalo

Written & directed by Yaël Farber

In 1984, Duma Kumalo was sentenced to death by hanging for his alleged participation in the mob killing of a town councillor in Sharpeville, South Africa. The trial was a miscarriage of justice that was hardly exceptional in apartheid South Africa, but did bring to international light the extent to which the South African "justice" system was devastatingly corrupt. 15 hours before Kumalo and his co-accused were due to be hanged – under intense international pressure – the state granted them a stay of execution. Kumalo served a further four years of a life sentence in prison. After seven years' incarceration for a crime he did not commit, he was released as part of political negotiations. The case was never reopened – and to this day, Kumalo's name has never been cleared. HE LEFT QUIETLY is the harrowing, true account of Duma Kumalo's 3 year descent into the hell of South Africa's notorious Death Row. Based on Kumalo's devastating testimony, and exploring the nature of memory and the attempt to document this story in all its moral chaos, this production bears testimony to one of the darkest aspects of South Africa's Apartheid years. It is a story of a man whose dignity, sense of humanity - and even humour - survived every attempt by a system to eradicate any traces of dignity from those destined for the gallows. It is a story of spiritual resilience and triumph - and the courage that Kumalo embodied. HE LEFT QUIETLY toured internationally until Duma Kumalo's untimely death in 2006.

TOURS

SOUTH AFRICA NATIONAL FESTIVAL OF ARTS - Grahamstown, South Africa 2002

THE HELIX - Dublin, Ireland 2002

KIT TROPEN THEATRE - Amsterdam, Holland 2002

SPOORNET THEATRE - Pretoria, South Africa 2002

IN TRANSIT FESTIVAL / HAUS DER KULTUUR - Berlin, Germany 2002

PRESS

THE IRISH TIMES"An artful and sophisticated performance... Through Kumalo's presence and the increasingly eloquent suppleness of Farber's beautifully judged production, the piece becomes almost literally haunting.Read the article (PDF file)

THE STAR, JOHANNESBURG"One of my most powerful theatre experiences ever... A production that envelops and overwhelms... It might be harrowing but it will probably change your life."Read the article (PDF file)

CUE - NATIONAL FEST OF ARTS, SOUTH AFRICA"A rare theatre phenomenon... repays the faith of enduring a hundred duds while awaiting a single gem... A complex, unnerving, compassionate text... a remarkable work: penetrating and unsentimental... emotionally overwhelming... Life made searing word and action Far more than a coupe de theatre; it is a coup de humanite."Read the article (PDF file)

POPMATTERS, SOUTH AFRICA"The gesture is more than poetic. It represents an opportunity for Duma Kumalo [...] to articulate his story. At last"Read the article (PDF file)

It was impossible to come away from any single conversation with Duma Joshua Kumalo without having learned something new about yourself or the world. He had faced death and – despite experiencing the ultimate cruelties people are capable of inflicting upon one another - he passionately chose to face life. He never shied away from describing, in great detail, the darkest memories that constituted his experiences. But always there emanated from him, a sense of man's worth: A dignity and humanity that had survived against unimaginable odds. Duma had a way of sharing his story that extended far beyond himself. He reached out in ways that impacted profoundly on anyone who met him. HE LEFT QUIETLY attempts to articulate the impact Duma has on others – by representing a story within his story. It is these connections that root us to our common humanity. Lives collide in ways that we can never anticipate. HE LEFT QUIETLY seeks to challenge our notions of time and space – in the act of tangibly facing the past and being accountable when called upon to contribute to the process of healing. HE LEFT QUIETLY is an examination of what can happen if you open yourself to other people's stories – and allow the retelling of histories to bring a sense of value to your own. Duma had a gentle manner that belied his immensely harsh suffering. There was an almost incomprehensible lack of judgment and hatred in his recounting of the past. But make no mistake! This was a man who was driven by a powerful will to have his story told and heard. In whatever way he could tell it – to anyone who will listen. It is a story about one of the darkest chapters of South Africa's notorious past, and the wholesale murder of men deemed "guilty" by a system flagrantly using the guise of "justice" to serve a political agenda of oppression. South Africa's Death Row is one of the darker stains on an already blood-soaked history. Duma Kumalo lived to tell his tale before his untimely death in 2006. HE LEFT QUIETLY is not the first telling of his experiences – nor, I hope, will it be the last. It is simply one expression borne of the extraordinary privilege it was, to engage with this exceptional story and the man who somehow survived it – with his sense of humour, his faith in humanity and his compassion inexplicably intact. HambaKhale, Bra D! May your light forever illuminate our past, showing us the way forward.